Tide-motor.



"No. 839,860. PATBNTED JAN. 1, 1907.

J. E. LBMYRR TIDE MOTOR. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 27, 1905.

PATENTED JAN. 1. 1907.

I No. 839,860.

J. E. LEMYRE.

TIDE MOTOR. urmonron FILED DEO.27,1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

. J, j m 0/ N m 7" l 7/ W i UNITED STATES PriTENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH E. LEMYRE, OF MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

TIDE-MOTOR,

Specification of Letters Batent.

Patented J an. 1, 1907.

Application filed December 27, 1905. Serial No. 298,438-

To (all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, JosEPH E. LEMYRE, acitizen oi; the United States, residing in Manchester, in the countyofHillsboro and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Tide-M0- tors, of which the followingu's aspecification.

This invention relates to that class of tidemotors in which two basinsare employed,

the other.

' tained fromv the ebb and flow of the tides and 4 My presentimprovement consists in the novel arrangement and combination of partsor structures hereinafter described and claimed, whereby a continuouspower is obdirectly from the head of water'due to the difference betweenthe levels of the low or ebb ,and high or'flood tides, and whereby anexcess of power is stored up at high tides, such as spring tides, whichcan be utilized at low tides, and whereby in the event of the two basinsbeing filled, as by heavy storms, the power stored up is available, thuspreventing any break in the continuity of the supply.

The nature of the invention is fully described below, and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1- is a diagrammatic viewillustrating my invention in plan. Fig. 2 is a view, partly in sectionand partly in elevation, the sectionbeing taken through the dam betweenthe two basins. Fig. 3 is an elevation looking toward the land of thestructure containing the inlet and outlet gates. Fig. 4 is relativelyenlarged plan illustrating the dynamo, storage battery, andconnections.v In the views the tide-gates, dam, and othe structures areillustratedconventionally. Similar numerals of reference indicatecorresponding parts.

1 represents "a basin or reservoir, usually.

. artificial, which may be, if desired, several miles in area. 2represents another basin which may be approximately of the same area asthe reservoir or basin 1. 'The artificial embankments 3 and 4, wherebythese basins are respectively produced, extend from suitable points 5 attide-water, whence they diverge and are built of suitable shape toproduce the basins 1 and 2 and then. converge until at their adjacentends 6 and 7 a dam 8 is built, said dam extending seaward,

where its outer end intersects a wall 9, which extends from the outerend of the embankment 3 to that of the embankment 4. This wall is ofsuflicien't height to prevent the water of the tides from flowing overit into or out of either basin, the height of the wall being regulatedby the difference between the .levels of the high and low tides in thelocality in which the structure is built. The dam 8, which extends fromthe wall 9 to the adjacent outer ends of the embankments '3'and'4, is ofsuitable height to prevent any overflow of water from the reservoir 1into thebasin 2.

Supported partly by this dam and partly by suitable posts 10, whichextend up from the bottom of the basin 2, is'a long building 11,

containing a dynamo 12, whose shaft 13 is ing the brushes, and23 isa'storagebattery connected with the dynamo by the negative and positivewires 24 and 25, which are connected by the wires 26 and 27 with thework.

Every turbine 20 is located at the lower end of a'spoutor tube 28,extending through the dam, and the turbines are actuated by the bodiesof water which flow from the res-' ervoir -1 by gravitythrough saidspouts or tubes into the basin.2. The wall 9 is provided with twohorizontal rows of gates-.- via, a row of inlet-gates 29, located nearthe "top of the portion of the wall ,which extends across the mouth ofthe reservoir 1 between the outer end 5 of the embankment 3 and the dam,and a row of outlet-gates 30, piercing near its bottom that portion ofthe w'a automatically, the gates 29'=allowing the in- .flow into. thereservoir 1 of ,any'water rising to their level and the gates 30allowing the outflow'of water {in the basin 2 down to their level.Preferably a suitable channel 31 is built leading to the wall 9.

- When the tide rises 'to the height of the gates 29, those gates openand the water enters the reservoir 1 and when the waterreaches the levelof the spouts or tubes 28 it flows by gravity through said spouts, and

. thereby operates the turbines, and by means of the intermediatemechanism 19, 18, 17 16, 14, and 13 the dynamo 12 is actuated and powertransmitted by means of the .wires 24 25' 26 and 27 for an desiredpurpose. The water which leaves the turbines flows into the basin 2, andwhen the tide has ebbed to a point below the outwardly-opening gates thewater in said basin flows out through said gates.

By arranging the relative heights of the inlet-gates 29 andoutlet-gates30 and by making the two basins of suliicient size whereby the reservoir1 can store a su'flicient amount of water there will, under ordinarycircumstances and with the irajority of tides, be a I continuous flow ofwater through the spouts 28 atflood-tide and at low tide and when thetides are rising and falling; but'in the case of neap tides there maynot be enough water enter the reservoir 1 to render the flow through thespouts constant. For this reason I provide as one of the elements in thecombination of which my invention consists the storage battery abovereferred to, one of the elie'cts of which is that the power derived'from the inflow of the spring tides is stored,

and thus rendered available during the neap tides. Thus a continuoussupply of power is maintained during high and low tides. M oreover, itmay sometimes be the case that heavy storms will fill both basins, thusrendering the motor inoperative by reason of the lack of gravitypowerproduced by downward flow of water through the spouts. In such a casethe storage-battery is also of service in maintaining a continuousavailable power until there is a sufficient distance between the heightof the water in the reservoir 1 and the height of the water in the basin2.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire'tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

In a tide-motor, two tidal basins, a (lam' separating the two, automaticinlet-gates to one basin near the line of high-tide level, autozraticoutlet-gates to the other basin near the low-tide level, aturbine-charnber adjacent to the (la'ir in the low tidal basin, a

In testlniony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH E. LEMYRE.

Witnesses:

Jnssn B. PATTEE, L. S. BOIVIN.

